Resource Guide
Facility-to-Facility Transfer Checklist
What a sending facility should have ready before scheduling a transfer — from destination and mobility needs to timing, belongings, and authorization.
Straight Answers
What does a sending facility need ready before calling for a transfer?
The receiving unit and a contact there, the patient's mobility and positioning needs, the transfer window, what belongings and equipment travel with the patient, and who authorizes and pays for the trip. Having these ready before the call speeds up scheduling and avoids delays at the door.
Destination Unit and Contact
Give more than just the facility name. Know the specific unit or floor the patient is going to, and ideally a name or department to check in with on arrival. Facility-to-facility transfers — hospital to SNF, rehab to assisted living, memory care to a specialist appointment and back — often move a patient into a building with multiple entrances and units, and having the exact destination avoids confusion at drop-off.
Mobility and Positioning Needs
- Ambulatory, manual wheelchair, power wheelchair, or bariatric equipment
- Whether the patient needs to travel reclined in a BRODA or Traversa chair rather than seated upright
- Any recent procedure, weight-bearing restriction, or fall risk the transport team should know about
- Whether the patient uses oxygen, and whether the family or facility is supplying it
Timing and the Transfer Window
Facility timelines shift for reasons outside anyone's control — a final physician sign-off, discharge paperwork, or a bed becoming available at the receiving end. Give a realistic window rather than a single fixed time, and flag whether the transfer is time-sensitive (a scheduled procedure at the other end) or flexible.
Belongings and Equipment
- Personal items: clothing, glasses, hearing aids, dentures, phone and charger
- Medical records, medication lists, or discharge paperwork that needs to travel with the patient
- Durable medical equipment staying with the patient, like a wheelchair, walker, or oxygen concentrator
- Anything that must go back to the sending facility versus what stays with the patient
Receiving-Facility Check-In
Confirm ahead of time how the receiving facility wants the patient checked in — a specific entrance, a nurse's station to notify, or paperwork that needs to be handed off directly. This is especially worth confirming for skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care destinations, where after-hours entrances or check-in procedures can differ from the main lobby.
Who Authorizes and Pays
Clarify early whether the transfer is being arranged and paid for by the family privately, billed to a facility account, or authorized through an organization or broker. Sorting this out before the trip is scheduled avoids delays or confusion when the vehicle arrives.
Scope and Safety
This guide is general educational information about arranging transportation, not medical advice. For a medical emergency, call 911.
Presence NEMT is not an emergency ambulance service and does not provide clinical care en route. Call 911 in an emergency.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How far in advance should a facility schedule a transfer?
- As soon as the transfer is known, ideally the day before, with a realistic time window rather than a single fixed time since discharge and transfer timing often shifts.
- Can Presence coordinate directly with both the sending and receiving facility?
- Yes. Case managers and discharge planners can share contact details for both ends so dispatch can confirm timing and destination specifics directly if needed.
- What if the patient needs a BRODA or reclined chair instead of a standard wheelchair?
- Mention positioning needs when scheduling. Presence provides BRODA/Traversa reclined transport for patients who cannot sit upright but do not need ambulance-level clinical care.
- Who is responsible for the patient's belongings during a transfer?
- The sending facility should pack and label what travels with the patient; drivers assist with loading but the facility and family are responsible for ensuring the right items are included.
- Does Presence handle after-hours transfers?
- Dispatch is available 24/7, so after-hours or weekend transfers can be scheduled the same way as daytime ones — just confirm the receiving facility's after-hours check-in procedure.
- What if the patient's condition changes right before the transfer?
- Call dispatch immediately with any change in mobility, positioning, or medical status so the right vehicle and equipment can be confirmed before pickup, or so the sending facility can reassess whether NEMT is still appropriate.
Schedule a Facility-to-Facility Transfer
Call or text Presence NEMT and a local team member will help you arrange transportation. No health details are required upfront to get started.